Blind Sight
by Ms.Orange21
Summary: What happens after the cannery explosion? Johnny/Lulu EPILOGUE UP! COMPLETE!
1. The Aftermath

**Chapter 1: The Aftermath**

"Claudia! Claudia, can you hear me? Where are you?"

Johnny wandered around the rubble looking for his sister. On minute, they were standing in a circle waiting for Carlo to answer his phone so they could make a deal, and the next, their world collapsed around them. 

For a minute, Johnny had no idea what happened. All he knew was there was a huge explosion and his head hurt. It took him about 10 minutes to clear his way out of the rubble and to realize nothing was broken or severely damaged. He felt a gash on his head, and it pounded like mad, but otherwise he was okay. 

Then he remembered Claudia. 

They had just been starting to reconnect a bit when he was snatched by Corinthos. She was even willing to trade shipping lanes that were vastly important to the organization to get him back. He wanted to help her through whatever was messing up her head. Johnny couldn't afford to lose her. Again.

"Claudia!" He stumbled around, looking for any sign of movement, listening for any noises that might lead him to his sister. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over him and he slipped to his knees. Everything got blurry. He closed his eyes and waited for it to pass, breathing deeply to calm himself. It was then he heard the moan.

Johnny got up and bolted to the area he heard the noise come from. "Come on, Claudia, be okay." He threw off wooden planks and metal pieces like a man on fire. Removing one final piece of wood, he was able to see who was underneath the rubble: Michael.

He swiftly pulled the rest of the debris off Michael, checking him for injury as he did. He was unconscious, but didn't seem to be badly hurt. Johnny shook him a little to try and wake him up. "Hey, hey, kiddo, wake up." He tapped his face lightly as Michael started to come around. "Hey, welcome back."

Michael blinked a few times to clear his head. "Who are you?"

"I'm Johnny, a friend of your mom's." So it was a little lie – he just wanted to make the kid comfortable.

"I remember. You came to the house once." He sat up. "Where's my mom?'

_Shit, Carly is here, too? _"We'll find her little man. Just let me make sure you're okay. Can you stand up?"

Michael tired to stand, but cried out in pain once he did. "I think I hurt my ankle."

Johnny had to come up with an idea fast. He couldn't leave the kid here alone while he looked for whoever else was buried under the rubble. First, he had to make sure Michael's ankle was stabilized before he moved him anymore. Johnny looked for a small enough piece of wood and then took off his belt when he found one. "You wearing a belt, buddy?"

"Yeah, why?"

"We're just gonna take care of your ankle right now. It's going to hurt, but you're brave right?"

"Y-y-yeah," he stuttered, frightened out of his mind.

Johnny laid the small board against Michael's ankle, doing his best not to cause the kid any more pain than he was already in. Then he fastened it to his leg with the two belts – a makeshift splint. Michael kept his eyes squeezed tight throughout the entire thing. When Johnny was done, he peeked open one eye. "That wasn't too bad."

"Well, that's cause you're a brave little man," he replied with a grin. "Now here's what we're gonna do next. I'm gonna crouch down, and you're going to wrap your arms around my neck."

"Like a piggyback ride?" Michael was too scared and hurt to remember to tell him he wasn't a kid anymore.

"Exactly. You ready?"

He nodded jerkily, and wrapped his arms around Johnny's neck as instructed. Johnny grabbed his legs in his arms, being careful as to not jerk around his ankle. "Okay, let's go find your mom."

They wandered around a few moments, calling out for both Carly and Claudia. The area was a disaster. It was hard to see any movement or hear any sounds coming from the wreckage. Finally, they heard someone calling out.

"John! Johnny!" 

He turned around to see Claudia stumbling towards him. "Claudia, thank god," he said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Are you okay?"

"Been better," she replied with a wry grin. She too, had made a makeshift sling with her belt and a piece of wood. "I think I have a broken arm and a few broken ribs, but otherwise I'm okay. You?"

"I think I might have a concussion, but otherwise, I'm alright."

"Who's the kid," Claudia asked, nodding in Michael's direction.

"This is Michael."

She narrowed her eyes. "The kid that caused this whole ordeal. What's he doing here?"

Hearing the malice in her voice, Michael buried his head in Johnny neck, crying out, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for anything bad to happen!"

"Hey, kiddo, it's okay," he soothed, patting his leg. Johnny shot Claudia a glare. _Later_, he mouthed to her. To Michael, he said, "Everything's all right." He paused for a minute as the blurriness and double vision came again.

"John, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he replied taking a deep breath. "Just a little blurred vision. Probably from the whack on the head I took. I'll be fine. We have to keep looking for people – Sonny and his mom was here, too."

The three of them took up the search again. Just as Johnny heard sirens in the distance, Claudia called out to him. "John! I see a hand over here!"

He rushed over to where she was. Gently putting Michael down, he started digging up the rubble, Claudia helping with her good arm. Finally, the cleared off enough to get the person out. 

"Oh my god," Claudia said. "That's the woman who owns the hotel I stayed at when I first got here."

"That's Michael's mom and Sonny's ex-wife," Johnny explained. 

"Is that my mom," Michael asked, voice trembling.

"Yeah, but don't worry," he said, trying to calm him down. "Help will be here soon; you can hear the sirens." 

He leaned over to get a better look at Carly. She was unconscious, but breathing. "Carly, can you hear me?"

"Mmm… my baby," she said, weakly, coming around. 

Johnny breathed a sigh of relief. "Michael's here and he's just fine."

"No… my baby," she said, hands covering my stomach. "Help my baby."

"What's going on," came a voice from behind them. They turned around to see Sonny coming towards them, looking just as beat up as they were.

Johnny looked at Claudia with panic written all over his face. Thank god the paramedics chose that moment to pull up, because Johnny felt like he was going to pass the fuck out.

�

* * *

�

Lulu was leaving Logan's room when she heard the commotion. She rushed out to the nurse's station to see what all the fuss was about. Carly was the first one wheeled in, with Michael right behind her. She felt like she was punched in the stomach. She grabbed the first paramedic she saw. "What happened?" 

"There was an explosion down on the waterfront," he replied, rushing past her.

"Wait," she cried, rushing after him. "Is she going to be all right?" 

"If you don't let me do my job, she won't," he snapped, trying to get her to a room.

"It's okay, Lulu," Dr. Lee said, hurrying after Carly's gurney. "I'll take care of her."

Next person that was wheeled in was Claudia Zacchara, followed by Johnny and Sonny. Sonny made a beeline for where Michael and Carly were, and Lulu grabbed Johnny.

"Johnny. Oh my god, I was so worried about you! What's going on? Are you okay? You're bleeding!"

"Slow down, Lulu," Johnny replied, putting his hands up in the universal 'slow down' sign. "One question at a time."

"What happened?"

"From what I gathered, Michael ran away. Sonny thought we took him and kidnapped me in retaliation. Claudia was trying to make a deal to get me released. We met on the waterfront and then the building blew up around us. No idea why. That's the situation in a nutshell." Johnny took a deep breath as the double vision came again. With it came a wave of dizziness. 

"Are you okay," she asked, putting her hand on his arm.

"I was hit in the head. I think I need to sit down for a minute."

Lulu took his arm and started to lead him towards a chair. "If you hit your head, a doctor should see you."

"I'll be fine. Everyone needs help more than I do."

"You need to get looked at. You have a deep cut and might – Johnny!" Before they got to the chairs, Johnny passed out on the floor.

�

* * *

�

Johnny awoke what felt like hours later. He felt a hand grasping his. "What happened?"

"You passed out," Lulu said, thumb caressing his hand.

"And this young lady would not let me see you unless she was here," Dr. Drake supplied. "Now, Johnny, open your eyes for me."

Johnny tried, but all he could see was darkness. He started to panic. "I can't, doc. I can't open my eyes!"

Lulu caught Dr. Drake's eyes over Johnny's body, dread pooling in the pit of her stomach.

"Johnny," Dr. Drake said, "your eyes _are_ open."


	2. Helpless

_A/N: A little angst, a little fluff, a little humor. But next chapter…. Here comes the angst!!_

**Chapter 2: Helpless**

Thankfully, everyone pulled from the wreckage survived with mostly minor injuries – broken bones, burns, smoke inhalation and the like. They were all going to be kept for a few days just for observation and then be sent home.

Lulu had stayed with Johnny as much as she could last night, but they kept shuffling him back and forth for tests. She was able to see him for a minute before she had to leave for home, but he was half asleep and only able to mumble goodbye to her and that was it. First thing this morning she rushed right back to General Hospital to check on him. Unfortunately, he wasn't in his room. So she hung around in the waiting area while Johnny was sent for more tests. Another MRI – this time with contrast, Elizabeth told her. _Whatever that meant_, Lulu thought, frustrated with the situation. You'd figure she'd know more about what goes on in a hospital with Elizabeth and Aunt Bobbie working here, but she never really paid attention. She sighed and took a sip of her coffee debating whether or not to visit Logan or to just keep waiting for Johnny when someone sat down next to her.

"Listen, I know we didn't exactly hit it off the other day, but do you have a minute?"

She turned around to see Claudia Zacchara sitting next to her. "Sure," Lulu replied, a bit surprised that she even wanted to talk to her. She took a good look at Johnny's sister. Not one to sit around in a hospital gown, she had someone from the Zacchara compound bring her and Johnny better clothes to wear. Now, she was clad in black cotton lounge pants and a black t-shirt – and bright red slippers. 

Claudia sighed and started speaking. "I know it's still early and it's only been a day, but John is already starting to shut down. He won't talk to me or the doctors. They sent some psychiatrist down to see him and he just threw his water pitcher in the direction of her voice."

"He's going to need time to adjust to the change, even if, God willing, it's only temporary."

"I know. But he's going to a very dark place right now, and one of his greatest fears has always been turning into Daddy. I know you care about him, and you told me the feelings were mutual right? He'll talk to you. Johnny doesn't let people in easily, so when he does, there's a strong connection. He'll talk to you," she repeated firmly.

"So what are you saying?" Lulu was enjoying the older woman's obvious discomfort at asking for her help.

"I'm asking you to spend some time with him."

Lulu thought for a minute. "How much is it paining you to ask me this," she finally asked.

"More than you can even imagine," Claudia threw right back.

"Well don't worry. I was planning on doing it anyway. Why do you think I'm here? For my health?"

"Listen, little girl, I'm still not sure about you. There's something off that I just can't put my finger on," she replied, pointing her finger in Lulu's face. "But my baby brother obviously cares about you, so I'm going to let that slide for now."

"The feeling is mutual," Lulu muttered.

Claudia carefully stood up as to not rip her stitches. Before she left, though, she leaned down and looked Lulu right in the eyes. "If you break my brother's heart, I'll break every bone in your body one at a time." She turned and left to go back to her room.

Lulu shivered at Claudia's coldness. She didn't doubt that she would make good on that threat if anything like that happened between her and Johnny.

Unfortunately, fate was not on Lulu's side this week. Every time she tried to visit Johnny, he was being taken away for some new test, or taken to occupational therapy or having some psychologist or psychiatrist trying to get him to talk. She barely had time to say, "Hi, how are you doing?" before being shooed out of the room. On top of that, Dr. Drake informed her that Logan had woken up earlier in the week. So she was trying to juggle visiting Johnny and Logan every day. It was tiring.

Dr. Drake was also nice enough to tell Lulu Johnny's prognosis after noticing all the trouble she was going through trying to visit him and not succeeding. _"He's a strong young man. The prognosis is still up in the air; it looks as if the damage should only be temporary. Some of brain swelling is making hard to tell. But like everything else, the longer he is without his vision coming back, the greater chance he has of becoming blind permanently. Right now, he still has a 50-50 chance. If he's blind for longer than 1 – 3 months, then I'd say the outlook is grim for him regaining his sight."_

Lulu had also heard from the nurses that Johnny was the worst patient on the floor. Picking fights with everyone, refusing to cooperate during his occupational therapy, yelling and shouting and being an all around nuisance. She took a deep breath and entered his room. "Hey, Johnny."

Johnny turned his head towards Lulu's voice and a small smile crossed his features. "Hey stranger. Finally found time to visit me?"

"Oh, please. You know I've been here every day. You're just too popular for me to actually talk to you! Do I need to put my name on a guest list or something?"

He laughed – the first time all week. "Yeah, they just love me here."

Lulu took a seat next to his bed. "Hmm. That's not what I've heard.""

"Oh really?"

"Really. Johnny," she said softly, "why are you being so stubborn with everybody? They're just trying to help you."

Immediately, the smile was gone and he went on the defensive. "Great," he snapped back at her. "Here I thought I was finally going to have a decent visit, instead I'm going to get a lecture."

Lulu was taken aback at the viciousness of his response. _Claudia was right_, she thought. _He is definitely not in a good place._ Out loud she said, "I'm not going to lecture you! I'm just trying to figure out why you're not letting anyone in!"

"I'm _**blind**_, Lulu! Helpless!"

Now Lulu was starting to get agitated herself. "Helpless? Now that's one word I would never use to describe you."

"Yeah, well get used to it," he muttered.

"What's happened to you, Johnny?"

"I can't see! I can't read a book or watch a movie! I can't drive my car! I certainly can't shoot a gun or do paperwork anymore. I don't even have a college education! What the hell am I going to do with my life now, huh?"

"So that's all you have in life? Cars and guns?"

"I have my music. But I can't read sheet music now," he sighed. "Will I even be able to play anymore?"

"Oh, cut the crap," Lulu snapped. "Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder are blind and you're telling me you won't be able to play anymore? Stupid, Johnny."

"Great," he snorted. "Now I'm stupid for worrying about my future. Thanks."

She tried to take his hand in hers, but he jerked it away. She decided to try another approach. "Johnny, Dr. Drake said it could only be temporary. It's too soon to tell."

"In other words, they have no idea what's going on with me." He reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a cup to pour himself a glass of water. In the process, he knocked his cell phone and wallet down. "Goddamn it," he yelled, whipping the cup across the room.

Lulu smiled to herself. She was done with this act. "Here, Johnny," she said, picking up the cup. "Let me get that for you." She filled it up from the small pitcher on the table and then proceeded to throw it right in his face.

"What the hell, Lulu," he sputtered angrily.

"That's it! I'm sick of this little pity party you're throwing yourself," she ranted. "Now you listen to me, Jonathan Michael Zacchara – "

Johnny raised an eyebrow at the use of his full name.

"Yeah, I snuck a peek at your chart. I know your whole damn name. Now you listen to me. In the chair in the corner are clothes Claudia brought you from home. Next to your bed is a cane that you _**should**_ have been learning how to use during occupational therapy. But you were so unteachable, the therapist wants nothing more to do with you. You are going to get up and get changed and meet me in the hallway to go for a walk. And, as you probably know, Logan woke up from his coma earlier this week. You take longer than five minutes – I'm going to visit him instead." Lulu ended her rant, turned on her heel and left.

Outside of his room, she saw Claudia leaning against the wall. She had been discharged two days after the explosion, but still came to see Johnny every day. She gave Lulu a small round of applause. "Not exactly what I was thinking of when I said talk to him, but it works."

Lulu sighed. "I didn't think he was going to be this bad." They heard a loud crash and a curse come from Johnny's room. She became concerned and started to make her way back to him – only be held back by Claudia grabbing her arm. "No," she said. "He has to learn how to get around on his own."

Lulu nodded in agreement. "You're right. We can't baby him."

"And we won't." They fell into silence for a few minutes before Claudia's curiosity got the best of her. "Who's Logan?"

Lulu rolled her eyes. She really did not feel like rehashing their whole story now. "Long story short? He's an ex-boyfriend that I thought was the Text Message Killer who tried to frame Johnny for murder and kind of threatened me. So I whacked him with a wrench and put him in a coma. He woke up a few days ago."

"Lemme guess… You feel all kinds of guilty know for hurting an innocent – somewhat – man."

Claudia had again managed to read her like a book. Lulu sighed. "Yes, I do. But that's another story that I'm _not_ going to tell you."

"Don't worry. I don't foresee sleepovers and hair braiding in our future, honey," she quipped.

"Am I interrupting something," a voice came from behind them. 

Lulu turned around to see Johnny dressed, cane in hand, ready to go. She looked at her watch. "That was more than five minutes," she said. 

"And yet you're still here."

"I figure I'd cut you some slack – this time. But get this straight," she stated, poking him in the chest, "I'm not going to get pushed around by you. You're going to start acting like the Johnny I knew before. I'm not going to put up with the self-pity. I didn't do it for my dad; I'm not gonna do it for you."

"Ow," he said, rubbing the spot she poked, "take it easy on the invalid."

"Not on your life," she quipped. "Let's go for a walk."

"Have fun, and good luck, John," Claudia said with a smirk._You're gonna need it._

"Thanks, Claud. Lulu, where'd you go," he called out.

"By the elevators," she called. "Hurry up!"

"Easy, tiger! I'm still learning how to get along here."

"Well, if you didn't scare off your occupational therapy teacher, you'd be moving better than you are. Now get a move on!"

Johnny finally made it to the elevators and got on just as the doors were going to close.

"Took you long enough," Lulu said, not unkindly.

"Yeah, well, I'm not the best student," he grumbled. He shuffled across the elevator until he bumped into her, then put his arm around her shoulders. "Thank you," he said quietly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I needed a swift kick in the ass."

"Johnny, it's understandable being scared and depressed. This is a serious situation. But you can't push away everyone who cares about you and tries to help you."

He smirked. "Are you saying that _you_ care about me?"

Tears suddenly sprang to her eyes. She swallowed heavily and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I don't know what I'd do if anything had happened to you in the cannery… if you…"

"But I'm here. And I'm going to do my best to start being a better patient. I promise."

"Well, good," she said, sniffling. "Cause I'm not gonna take any crap from you. My dad is the king of being exasperating. If you think I'm gonna take it from you too, you're sorely mistaken."

"I don't expect you to." Johnny paused. "Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"Be patient with me. If this isn't temporary… I need time to get used to it. I'm going to have to vent once and a while. Just… no more water in the face," he finished with a laugh.

"Well, I can't promise you _that_," she said laughing with him. "But patience… that I can promise." She leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips just as the elevator doors dinged open. "Now come one, devil child, lets go for that walk."

"Devil Child?"

"That's the nurses nickname for you."


	3. Apologies and Mistakes

**Chapter 3: Apologies and Mistakes **

"Well, look at you all dressed and ready before I even got here," Lulu said, two days later. Yesterday, she again had to persuade Johnny to get out of bed, but once he was up, he did just fine. Today, he beat her to the punch.

"I figured I would save you the energy of arguing with me today," he replied with a grin.

She laughed. "Oh, you didn't now? Arguing with you is the highlight of my day."

"Now that's a sad existence," Claudia said from the doorway.

"Strike that," Lulu replied, dryly. "Arguing with _her_ is the highlight of my day."

Johnny couldn't remember being this happy when he was able to see. Lulu was taking care of him, Claudia watched over him like a hawk, and the two of them were getting along – in a kind of love/hate way. It made him feel at peace. "Joining us for our walk today, Claud?"

"Nah," she replied. "Just wondering if you could drag yourself away from Blondie for a bit to talk later, Doctors said you can go home tomorrow."

Lulu gasped in happiness. "Johnny, that's great!"

"They think I'm ready to go home?" He asked suprised.

"They said that you've done better in the past 2 days than you did all last week," Claudia stated, looking at Lulu.

Lulu had to suppress the urge to stick her thumbs in her ears and wiggle her fingers while going "thbbt". Instead, she turned to Johnny and said, "Cone on, devil child. Let's go for that walk before your lunch comes up."

"Will you stop calling me that? The nurses have," he grumbled.

"Nope, I think the name fits you all too well." She looped her arm though his. "I can almost see the horns."

Johnny rolled his sightless eyes and turned his head to where Claudia's voice came from earlier. "You see what I've had to put up with?"

"What are you talking about," Claudia asked. "Chicks dig bad boys." She leaned around him to look at Lulu. "Exhibit A is attached to your arm like a leech."

She gave Claudia a "ha ha, you're so funny" look. "Says one blood sucker to another," she quipped.

"On that note," Johnny interrupted, before it got ugly, "we're gonna get going. You'll be here later?

"Yep," Claudia replied, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll be back after lunch."

* * *

This was a routine that Lulu did every day. Visit Johnny, visit Logan, visit Johnny again, go to work and go home. It was exhausting, but it's what Lulu wanted to do. "Hey you," she said, poking her head in Logan's room.

"Hey yourself," he replied smiling.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, pulling up a chair about a foot from the bed.

"Great. Dr. Drake said there is no lasting damage and I can finally go home tomorrow."

"That's great, Logan!"

"You know," he said, glancing at her, "you can come closer. I don't bite."

She smiled and pulled her chair closer. Taking his hand in hers, she said, "Listen, Logan. I'm so, so sorry for hitting you. But you scared me; you truly did. And nothing you said or did that night made you look any more innocent."

"It's okay. I realize now that, well, I wasn't thinking too clearly at the time. Maybe I needed a knock on the head," he quipped with a grin. They both laughed, glad that they could put this behind them. Logan sobered first.

"Lulu," he said, "I know I was wrong. I was just so afraid of losing you to Johnny, I couldn't stand it!"

"Logan, I care about you, I do," she replied. "But I'm going to be honest. After everything that's happened, I just don't know if what we did have is there anymore."

"For me it is. Just give me a chance," he said laying his hand on her cheek. "Please?"

"Logan, I am just very confused about you. I don't – " She didn't get to say anymore, as he pulled her down into a loving kiss.

* * *

Claudia had been leaning against the wall when Lulu and Johnny came back from their walk. Lulu did the same thing for the past 2 days: drop off Johnny and dart off down the hallway and disappear into another room. Claudia had an idea where Lulu was going after she left Johnny. She had mentioned her guilt about clocking her ex-boyfriend in the head – she was probably on her way to see him. Guilt was a strange friend, but Claudia still had the jury out on how she felt about Lulu. So she followed her.

She hid back a ways from the room, but the blind was open and she could see directly in. Goldilocks seemed to be playing nice with the ex… she was sitting a good space away from the bed, smiling nicely. But Claudia's eyes narrowed as she saw Lulu shimmy her chair right up to the bed and take a hold of Logan's hand. She began to wonder what her game was, as Lulu and Logan both began to laugh. But when she saw Logan lean down to kiss her and Lulu didn't try to deflect it, Claudia saw red. She had to restrain herself from going in that room and destroying her. Just when she thought she might be beginning to accept Lulu, she saw her for what she really was.

Claudia took a deep breath and turned around to head back to Johnny's room. They needed to have a serious talk.

* * *

Johnny sat in his hospital bed not doing anything – just listening. He figured if he was going to be blind for however long, he was going to need to gear up his other senses, especially his hearing. He started his first night in the hospital. By now, he was able to single out voices over the clamor all the way over at the nurse's station – Epiphany, Elizabeth, Nadine, Dr. Drake, and Dr. Scorpio were easy. Now, Johnny was listening to people's footsteps. You could tell who was walking down the hall or into your room just by the kind of steps they took – soft or heavy, long, wide strides or short quick steps. If he had a few more days here, he might have been able to sort everyone out – right now he was only right about 50 of the time. But he was going home tomorrow, and as much as he was enjoying working on his new skills, he would be glad to get out of this over sanitized hell-hole.

Johnny sighed. He was eagerly waiting for Lulu to come back – she was the highlight of his day. He tilted his head as her heard a pair of footsteps making it's way down the hall and pause at his door. After a second, the person walked in, coming towards him. Johnny concentrated. He knew Lulu and Claudia's sound – this wasn't either of them. As a matter of fact, it didn't sound like a footstep he has heard yet in the hospital.

"Who's there?" he said.

The person didn't say a word, just pulled the chair up close to the bed and sat down.

"Listen," Johnny sighed angrily, "I don't have the patience for games. Who are you and what do you want?"

The only answer he got was a breeze across his face as a hand waved back and forth in front of his face. And it smelled of… coffee?

"So I guess it is true," Sonny said. "You really are blind."

Johnny's face grew tight when he heard the voice. "What the hell do you want," he ground out.

"Hey, I come in peace, okay?" Sonny replied.

"And I'm supposed to believe that? If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be in this damn situatuon!"

"I've come to apologize. And thank you for saving my son and ex wife's lives."

Johnny continued, not registering what Sonny said. "And if you think for one second – " He paused. "Wait. What was that?"

"Don't push me. I don't do this very often, so listen closely," Sonny said. "I let my emotions get the best of me the past few weeks. Not thinking clearly, acting on instinct, proof be damned. Jason's the one with the level head, and he was right about things more times than I care to admit lately, but I ignored him." He sighed and paused for a minute.

"This must be killing you to do this," Johnny quipped.

"Believe it or not, I'm more embarrassed of my actions than anything. And when I'm wrong, I admit it. And I was wrong. Very wrong." He took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Have you ever been in love, Johnny?" he suddenly asked.

Johnny thought back to the moment when he realized he was in love. The night on the Haunted Star. The morning when he woke up with Lulu in his arms and realized he wanted to wake up every day the same exact way. "Yeah," he replied quietly. "Yeah, I have."

"Now imagine that the person you loved what shot and your son was kidnapped. And you have no idea who did it. So, naturally, you assume it's a family that has been threatening your territory. You're irrational; you want to hurt those who have hurt you. You don't care if someone says they didn't do it. Proof or no proof, someone was going to pay."

For a moment, Johnny could understand where Sonny was coming from. If Lulu ever got hurt because of him… he would go mad.

"In the process," Sonny continued, "innocent people got hurt. You included. So, please accept my sincerest apologies."

Johnny took a deep breath. He didn't want to be looking over his shoulder every five minutes wondering if he was going to get snatched again – especially since he couldn't see anything. What he wanted most of all was to have both of their families be able to exist together. The first step to that would be accepting Sonny's apology. "Thank you. I accept your apology." He stuck out his hand as a gesture of friendship.

Sonny took his hand and said, "When you get out of here, take your time getting better. We'll have a meeting soon after."

He made his way to leave, and passed Claudia on the way out. She did a double take at Sonny, then said to her brother, "What the hell was he doing here?"

Still not believing the situation, he replied, "He apologized for everything. I'm still in shock!"

"You're kidding."

"Nope. And when I get out, he wants to discuss how to keep the peace."

Claudia leaned over and hugged him. "Well, I still think he's a bastard, but if he's taking the steps to make things right, then I'm glad." She pulled away and sat in the chair Sonny just vacated. She took a deep breath and said, "I hate to bring down your good mood, John, but we need to have a talk."

* * *

"No, Logan," Lulu said, pulling away and getting out of her chair. "This isn't right."

"Lulu, what are you talking about? You still care about me, I know you do!"

"I care about you, Logan. As a friend. Not as a boyfriend."

Logan's face fell. "I thought you wanted to give me another chance."

"Again," she asked incredulously. "I said I was confused – that does not equal another chance. But I'm not so confused anymore."

"Lulu – "

"Listen, Logan, here's the deal. I care about you, I do. But I can't trust you. You've lied, you've cheated – you've tried to frame Johnny for a serious crime! I want to be your friend, I really do. But unless you get your act together, we can't even be that."

"I just wanted you, Lulu." Logan looked so pathetic, Lulu almost laughed.

"I'm sorry," she replied softly. "You did this to yourself."

"I know," he sighed. "I just didn't want to accept that we really were over. But I made my bed. Now I have to lay in it." He looked up at her. "I still love you, you know that. But if I can't have you, I would still like to be friends."

"We weren't meant to be, Logan. We're our parents. Just re-writing history." She gave him a kiss on his head. "Call me if you need help with anything, okay?"

"I will. And I'm going to get my act together. I promise."

Lulu opened the door to exit the room, but she was stopped by Logan's voice. "Uh, Lulu?"

She paused. "Yeah?"

"I heard about what happed to Johnny and what he did. I… uh… I hope he gets his eyesight back soon."

Tears sprung to Lulu's eyes. She ran back to his bedside and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Thank you, Logan. You don't know how much that means to me."

He just blushed and nodded his head. "Go. I'll call you later."

* * *

Claudia was on her cell phone outside of Johnny's room when she saw Lulu approach. Quickly ending the call, she got in the doorway, putting her arm up before Lulu could get through.

"Excuse me," Lulu said, annoyed. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Claudia snapped at her.

"It looks like you're trying to piss me off."

"That's right, tough girl. And you can get as angry as you want; you're still not going in there."

Now Lulu was royally pissed. "Why the hell not?"

Claudia ignored the question. "You know, now I know why I had that feeling in my gut about you. That you were bad for my baby brother."

"I'm bad for Johnny? I'm the only one he's listened to these past few days."

"He wouldn't have wasted a second look on you if he knew how much of a tramp you are."

"Says the girl who looks at everything with two legs and penis like they were water and she a person who was dying of thirst. Now get the hell out of my way," Lulu growled.

"No, I don't think so," Claudia said loftily. "Why don't you go back to Logan's room? You seemed quite cozy in there earlier."

Lulu's face paled. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw you sucking face with that Neanderthal," she sneered.

She panicked. Claudia must have seen Logan kiss her. "It wasn't what it looked like," she protested. She looked over Claudia's arm to yell to Johnny. "Johnny, please, let me explain." He just turned his head away from her voice. Lulu felt like she was just punched in the stomach.

"You hateful bitch," she whispered to Claudia. "If you had waited another minute, you would have seem me push him away and tell him we were done. But no. You just want to make sure you found a solid reason to get me out of Johnny's life. Why? He's happy with me."

"Whatever you say, blondie. How many guys have you used that line on? The only reason I want you out of John's life is because he deserves better than a lying, two-timing bitch like you."

"I told you, it didn't happen like you saw!" She insisted, tears coming to her eyes.

"Just leave. And stay gone." With that, Claudia backed into the room and slammed the door in Lulu's face.

Lulu prayed she wouldn't burst into tears before she made it outside.


	4. The Haunted Star

**Chapter 4: The Haunted Star**

The next day was a blur for Johnny. He was released from the hospital early in the morning, but nothing Dr. Drake said to him registered in his brain. Thankfully, Claudia was there to jot anything important down. All he wanted to do was go home, crawl in his bed and feel sorry for himself.

He gave a bitter laugh when he thought about the situation. Johnny really believed that Lulu was different – that she really did care about him and want to be with him. But when Claudia came back to his room and told him what she saw… well, it felt like his heart had just been ripped right from his chest. Was all her caring words and touches just for show? Was Lulu saving up all her sincerity for Logan?

Johnny sighed as he felt the car slow down and made it's way up the long drive to the mansion. Claudia was yapping on her cell phone the whole trip home, so he couldn't wait to get out of the car. She was giving him a headache.

As he got out of the car, the driver made his way around to assist him. "Here, sir, let me help you."

"I can do it myself," Johnny snapped, shrugging his arm out of his grasp. "That's why they gave me this handy dandy stick for." With a stiff back, he made his way towards the house.

Claudia looked over to the driver who was blushing furiously at the reaming. "He has to learn how to do things on his own." She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, he's still trying to muddle through all this. Give him some time." The driver nodded his head and Claudia also went to the house.

* * *

Johnny spent most of the afternoon trying to maneuver his way around the compound. Having spent all of his 23 years there, he could get around blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back. _Except now, the blindfold can't come off,_ he thought bitterly. The house seemed so much bigger and empty when you couldn't see anything. It didn't help that everyone was on edge around him and Claudia had to leave for a meeting. Lulu should have been here with him… Johnny's stomach clenched at the thought of her. He just kept picturing the scene in his head… Did Logan sprout out beautiful words before kissing her? Did she laugh and tilt her head in the adorable way she does when you compliment her? He may be blind now, but the image of them kissing was burned in his brain clear as day.

Suddenly, he needed to get out of that house and almost screamed in frustration when he realized that he couldn't drive. Taking a deep breath, he opened the front door and spoke to the nearest posted guard. "Who's out here?"

"Tony, sir."

"Tony, have someone bring the car around. I'm going out."

"Sir, are you sure – "

"Don't ask questions," Johnny snarled, "Just do it."

The car pulled around and he got in, telling his driver, "Port Charles."

A short while later, they were n the place Johnny left a few short hours ago – except this time, the driver was directed towards the waterfront. He allowed the driver to help him down to the piers. "Clark, do you see a large boat with the words "The Haunted Star" on the bow?"

"Yes, sir."

"Walk me to that dock and go back to the car and wait until I call you."

"But, sir – "

"Just do it," he gritted out between clenched teeth. Clark snapped his mouth shut and lead Johnny to the pier. When his arm was let go, he carefully made is way down the dock, feeling his way along with his cane. The last thing Johnny wanted to do was fall in the harbor.

He carefully made his way on the ship. Johnny had spent so much time here over the past month or so that he knew the way like the back of his hand. When he reached the main room, he paused and took a deep breath. Memories of Lulu hit him like a ton of bricks. He sighed and moved to find the piano in the middle of the room. He laid his can on top of the piano and took a seat. He refused to play "Clair de Lune", not wanting more visions of Lulu dancing in his head. Instead, he played Beethoven's "Fur Elise" even changing the sound of the upbeat middle part. To him, that definitely had a sadder, more melancholy sound. When Johnny finished the song, he tilted he head back and sighed.

Johnny felt the person behind him before they spoke.

"Now why would you play such a goddamn depressing song?"

He rolled his eyes at the voice. They had only met twice, but it was unmistakable.

"Why are you here," Johnny asked.

"Well, as it is my ship," Luke answered, "I should be asking you that question. You seem to be trespassing."

"Fine. Have me arrested then."

"Now why would I do that," he replied, grabbing one of Johnny's hands and placing a glass in it. "I think you could use one of these. Johnnie Walker Blue. My own private collection."

Johnny grasped the glass and took a sip. "Good stuff," he said. "Thanks." He swung around on the bench to face Luke – not that it really mattered, but he thought it was more polite.

"So, it really is true, huh," Luke asked, walking around him and toying with Johnny's cane on top of the piano.

He sighed. "Why does everyone ask that? Like I'd lie about it."

"Easy there, cowboy. I was just making a statement." He paused to take a sip of his drink. "So is that why you came here playing that depressing song?"

"Yep."

"Why? You obviously have a piano in your house. Hell, you probably have your own orchestra in the basement."

"I didn't feel like staying there," Johnny replied, getting irritated at where this conversation was going.

"Well, then, why come here?" Luke was so glad that Johnny couldn't see the grin on his face. He was having fun watching the young man squirm. Lulu told him about what happened with Claudia at the hospital – and pretty much blurted out the rest of their relationship in the process. Now that he was going to be home a lot more thanks to his rewired ticker, he was glad that him and Lulu were bonding. And Luke honestly liked Johnny.

"Because it's a familiar spot."

"Ah, but I believe the MetroCourt is a familiar spot to you, too. No, son, the reason why you are here is because there are memories here. Like it or not, the place with the memories always drags you back. Believe me, I know," he stated. "That's why I keep coming back here, even though I've run it down to the ground."

"Memories I'd like to forget," Johnny muttered.

"Aha. Now I see. So is that why my Lulu spent last night sniffling away and wandering around the house today like a lost soul?"

"I knew it. I knew this conversation was going to go there," he said angrily. "You know what," he said rising and grabbing his cane, "I'm done with this conversation."

"Stop right there," Luke bellowed. "I wasn't done talking to ya and if you take another step, I'm gonna spin your blind ass around in a circle so you no longer know where you are."

"Nice, Spencer, real nice."

"Well, it's my daughter we'll talking about here."

"No, _you_ were talking about Lulu," Johnny said pointing in Luke's direction. "I wasn't and now I'm leaving."

"Don't make me re-arrange the furniture, too," Luke threatened. "We're not done here."

"What? What do you want to hear," Johnny exploded. "That your precious little girl is nothing but a liar? That she told me she cared for me, but the minute Logan woke up she went running to him? That she tore out my heart without a second thought?"

"And there's the rub," Luke replied, rubbing his chin. "How do you know Lulu went running back to Logan? You can't see a thing."

"My sister Claudia saw them," he swallowed hard before he could say the word, "kissing."

"Maybe your sister was mistaken."

"I'm the blind one, as you like to keep reminding me, not her. She looks out for me."

"Now, I'm no fan of the young Neanderthal, and from what I can tell, my daughter isn't either – anymore at least." Luke didn't want to overstep his boundaries. He wasn't going to plead his daughter's case to the young man, just try to open his eyes a bit. Whatever was going on between the two – they were going to have to work it out themselves. "Just think for a minute, maybe your sister was mistaken. You would feel like a horse's ass by not even giving Lulu a chance to explain."

Lowering his head, he replied, "Yeah, yeah I would."

"Now I know things are complicated with you two – Lulu and I had a nice talk last night." Johnny's head shot up in panic and Luke had to laugh. Not that she had gone into any details, but he was pretty sure they had sex. Just the way they acted when they mentioned the other was a dead giveaway. Luke ignored Johnny's look of fear and continued talking. "Your situation reminds me a lot of me and my Laura," he said, wistfully. "One day, when all this is worked out, remind me to tell you that story."

"Dad," a voice came from the hallway, "sorry I took so long! I was helping Logan clean up his apart –" Lulu cut off her sentence when she walked into the main ballroom to see Johnny there with Luke.

Johnny stiffened when he heard her voice. The fact that she was talking about Logan just made him even more sure what Claudia had told him was true. And now he was angry. Angry because it was totally obvious that Luke was trying to set the two of them up. "Like I said earlier," he repeated in Luke's direction. "my sister looks out for me."

"Johnny," Lulu said as he slowly moved past her, "Johnny, wait." She put her hand on his arm, trying to halt his departure. All he did was wretch it out of her grasp and continue on his way out.

Lulu tried to brace herself against the pain that shot through her at his complete rejection, but it cut her so deep she couldn't. If only he could see that it was just a misunderstanding, things would work out fine. But he didn't even want to hear her out. She stormed down the steps to Luke. "I didn't tell you our history to stick your nose in my business – again! What were you saying to him?"

"Hey, he just wandered in while I was already trying to clean up the place. Thinking about opening it again," he replied looking wistful. "As what I was saying to him – I got him to admit he was being dumb not listening to you… until you barged in here talking about Logan. I thought you were done with that no brainer?"

Lulu sighed. "We are done, dad. But I still care about him and we are staying friends. He understands about Johnny. And I was just helping him clean his apartment of the mess the police left. He's still a bit unsteady on his feet."

"And now the young Zacchara thinks you are still shacking up with him."

She collapsed onto the piano bench and put her head in her hands. "This is great. He won't talk to me… how am I supposed to make things right?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Luke said softly, sitting next to her. "What is this dejection and defeat I'm sensing? That's not a Spencer trait at all." He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to him. "Listen, Johnny is a good man – I can tell… he reminds me of me. He has to be a good guy." Lulu gave a small chuckle at the comparison. "But you hurt him – albeit accidentally," he said, cutting off her complaint. "You are a strong, beautiful and confident young woman. This 'woe-is-me' thing you got going on is not you, pumpkin."

Lulu sighed. "I know. But this hurts. And being hurt again so soon after Logan hurt me… It's taken a lot out of me, you know? I think I love him, dad."

"I know. Love's a funny thing. But we're Spencers. We bounce back. And we don't take defeat sitting down. What would your mother do?"

She looked up at Luke with tears in her eyes at the mention of Laura. She wiped them away and with a set to her chin said, "Your right. Mom wouldn't back down this easily. And neither am I."

"That's what I like to hear!"

"And first thing tomorrow, I'm going to make Johnny listen to me if I have to knock him out and tie him up."

"Uh – he might like the tying up thing," Luke quipped.

Lulu just rolled her eyes and ignored the comment. "But not until after I have a little talk with Claudia."


	5. At The Mansion

_A/N: Sorry this took so long! I was stumped at one point and couldn't get the scene out. Sorry it's a big shorter, but I thought this was a good place to leave off and I wanted to get something up for you all. I hope you enjoy!_

**Chapter 5: At The Mansion**

Lulu woke up the next morning ready for a fight. She wasn't going to sit around and feel sorry for herself anymore – that wasn't the Spencer way. She wasn't going to let Claudia ruin something that could possibly be the best thing that ever happened to her. Right now, she should be helping Johnny get re-accustomed to his home, but no. Claudia ha to spy on her and not even bother to stay around and see the scene play out, effectively putting a roadblock on her and Johnny's relationship. Well, Lulu was not fine with that.

She looked at herself in the mirror before she left the house. Black boots, black jeans, black t-shirt, and black leather jacket. Lulu laughed a bit at her refection. She looked a bit like Jason in her bad-ass outfit. Now, all she needed to do what to channel Jason and everything would go smoothly… she hoped.

About half an hour later, she found herself walking up the path to the Zacchara household. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the nearest guard and said, "I'm Lulu Spencer. I'm here to see Johnny Zacchara."

The guard just looked at her. "Mr. Zacchara is not taking visitors. But Ms. Zacchara has been expecting you."

Lulu hid her surprise well… she figured she was going to have to sneak in and then probably face off with Claudia. She didn't like that Claudia was expecting her. It made her feel unprepared and caught off guard.

When she entered the house, Lulu noticed that it was very quiet… almost eerie. There were no guards in the hall, and she couldn't hear any talking at all. When she got to the main staircase, Claudia walked out of the office to meet her. She closed the door behind her and said, "Well, normally I'd say this was a pleasant surprise, but I knew you'd be here."

"Well, aren't you the smart one," Lulu retorted. She stared at Claudia. They were dressed almost the same, except Claudia had on red heels and had a black cast on her arm from the explosion. _I didn't even know they made plaster in black._

"Let's cut to the chase, blondie. I don't like you, you don't like me. You're nothing but a self centered little slut who thinks she can wrap whoever she wants around her fingers. But that stops here. I want you to stay away from Johnny – and he doesn't want you near him either."

"Have you looked in the mirror lately? _I'm_ the slut? From what I've heard, you've tired to get into the pants of every man in Port Charles, including my father. Now, you're the one who's going to stay away from me – I'm going to talk to Johnny and tell him the truth – especially what a lying, selfish bitch you are."

As soon as those words left her mouth, Lulu found herself up against the railing of the stairway, Claudia's casted arm across her throat.

"I _said_ you are not going near him again. What did I tell you? You break his heart and I break your bones. What didn't you understand?" Then, Claudia heard a faint click and looked down.

Lulu smiled against the pain. "And I learned to not come back to this house unprotected," she gasped out. Claudia removed her arm from her throat and stepped back from the knife Lulu was holding.

"Well, well," Claudia demurred, "looks like I might have underestimated you."

"Lots of people made that mistake. And they don't make it twice."

"I'm quaking in fear." Claudia crossed her arms across her chest and looked Lulu up and down. She took in the determination on her face… but there was something else there. Claudia couldn't quite place it. Maybe Lulu was telling the truth… maybe Claudia let her own emotions take over and didn't wait to see how the rest of the scene in the hospital played out. Maybe… maybe she was just over thinking everything. "You know what," she finally said. "I've done my part."

"That you certainly have," Lulu snarled.

"Johnny's heard my story. You go ahead and tell him yours. We'll see what happens."

"Johnny is going to believe me. I have nothing to hide from him. And we have a special connection that I'm not going to let you destroy," she replied, emphasizing her statement by clicking her knife shut.

Claudia glared at her as Lulu opened the door to the office and then shut them behind her. _Maybe I was wrong…_ she thought guiltily.

* * *

"Claudia," Johnny said as he heard the office door open and close. "What's going on out there? I heard voices arguing, but I was on the phone. I couldn't hear what was going on." He heard her walk over to the desk and stop. "Is everything okay?"

"No, Johnny, everything is _not_ okay."

His face grew stony at hearing Lulu's voice. "What do you want?"

"Well, considering you didn't get to hear my side of the story yet, I think we need to talk."

"There is nothing you have to say that I want to hear." He reached over to pick up the phone to call security to escort her out. But Lulu was quicker. She unplugged the phone and threw the cord to the side. All he heard was silence.

"Fine. You want to be that way…" Johnny reached for his cell phone that was sitting on top of the desk – only to find it wasn't there. "Give me the phone."

"No."

Now Johnny was getting angry. He rolled back his chair far enough to get out from behind the desk and reached over to where his cane was. While he was searching for it, Lulu walked around and sat on the desk. She scooted all the way back and twirled his can in her hands. She knew she was toying with him and being cruel, but he was going to hear what she had to say!

After a few seconds of searching around, Johnny sighed and sat back up straight. "Lulu…"

"What," she asked innocently, tapping his chest with the cane, "Is this what you're looking for?"

He reached up to grab it, only to have her move it away before he could. "Enough with the games! Give me the damn cane," he yelled, agitated.

"I'm not the one playing games here," she retorted. "That would be your sister. I'm here to try to undo the damage that she did."

"So her looking out for my well being is damage?"

"No, when she doesn't know what she's talking about and tells people – that's damage."

Johnny finally stood up. "You know, if you didn't want to be bothered with a invalid, you didn't have to fake like you cared."

It was Lulu's turn to get agitated. "Did you not understand me? I said you sister was wrong! And how could you say I don't care about you?"

"Because you always go back to Logan. I should have known," he said shaking his head. "You just felt sorry for me, right? The poor blind boy? Well, I'm fine without you. You can go back to Logan – again. We're done here." Johnny started to walk away from her.

"We are not done here," she said, jumping up and grabbing his arm. "You still didn't hear my side of story!"

"I don't care about your 'story'. You played me and I am done." He wretched his arm out of her grip and moved towards the door.

If there is one thing that Lulu loved about her brother, Lucky, was that he was a cop. And when she was a little younger, Lucky practiced his handcuff skills on her. He wanted to be able to slap the cuffs on the wrists of a perp just as quickly as they do in the movies. In their ministrations, she got just as quick as he did.

Lulu was extremely grateful for that right now…. and the fact that Lucky left a spare set of handcuffs at the house.

She grabbed his arm again and slapped the cuffs on him, then put the other end on her wrist. "Fine. You want to leave, you're taking me with you."

"Lulu," he said through his teeth, "give me the key."

"I don't have it. Left it at my house," she replied flippantly.

"Oh, really?" Johnny took his free hand and started feeling around for her pockets – first finding her jacket pocket and then moved to her jeans. Lulu closed her eyes against the feeling of his hands on her body. She was glad he couldn't see the effect he was having on her.

Johnny, too, was having problems concentration at the task on hand when he reached her back pocket. The roundness of her butt was almost too much for him to take. He almost gave in right there and begged her to have him over Logan – but no. She wanted Logan. Not him.

"Fine," he replied when we was done searching. "We're gonna go call a locksmith." He finally made it to the door and opened it, dragging her along with him.

Lulu smiled at the catch she heard in his voice when he spoke. "No, first we need to talk," she said digging in her heels to prevent his pull.

He ignored her and dragged her out into the hallway. "Guards! One of you, get your ass in here!"

One of the guards made their way to the hallway. He looked from Johnny to Lulu to Johnny and back to Lulu again. She just grinned at him and shrugged. "Sir?"

"Get on the phone and call a locksmith to get me out of this situation."

"No, Tony. Let them be."

Johnny's head whipped around towards where the voice was coming from. "Claudia – what the hell?"

"I think you guys need to work this out together," she replied.

"Wait, aren't you the one who came and ran to me to tell me she was making out with Logan? What are you playing at, Claud?"

"Maybe… I'm thinking maybe I didn't see the whole situation properly," she stated, staring at Lulu. Lulu nodded her head in a gesture of thanks.

"You are both driving me fucking nuts," he snarled. "Tony, get me a locksmith."

"Tony, you and the rest of the guards are off for the night," Claudia said. "You'll get paid for the entire day. Oh, and before you leave, unplug all the phones and put them in a closet somewhere."

Johnny rolled his sightless eyes up to the heavens. He was tired of arguing and it was obviously 2 against 1 at this point in time – no longer in his favor. "Fine. You want to talk, let's talk," he said, dragging her back into the office.

Lulu glanced back at Claudia. Claudia just pointer her finger at her as if to say, _Just watch yourself._


	6. Trust

_A/N: Okay, folks! Just the epilogue after this! I hope you enjoyed it!_

**Chapter 6: Trust**

"Well, you wanted to talk," Johnny said coldly. "Talk."

Lulu stayed quiet and made her way over to the couch across the room, dragging Johnny with her. They sat down, still silent. Now that she had the chance to plead her case, she had no idea where to begin. Did she explain the situation? Or should she apologize first? She was clueless

Johnny sighed and crossed his arms, pulling Lulu's with his motions. "Hey! That's my arm too!"

"Well if you didn't handcuff me, we wouldn't have this problem. And the sooner you spit out what you want to say, the sooner I can call a locksmith to get these things off us. Now talk!"

"Fine," she snapped. This was not going the way she wanted to. Lulu blew a puff of air out of her mouth, blowing her bangs to the side. She still didn't know what to say.

"How about I make this easy on you," Johnny said, getting irritated at her silence. "Did you kiss Logan?"

"Yes," Lulu admitted. "And no."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means Logan kissed me – I didn't kiss him," she explained. "I was trying to explain to him that I didn't have feelings for him anymore. And he kissed me to try to prove that I do."

"And you let him?"

"What was I supposed to do," she said, irate. "One minute I'm talking, the next, he's kissing me! It took me by surprise."

"Well, apparently it was a good surprise," he said coldly.

"Why? Because Claudia said so," Lulu retorted. "If she wasn't so set on making me look bad to you she would have seen what really happened. If she had stayed half a second longer, she would have seen me push him off of me. But no, Claudia is in her own little world. Mind you, I didn't even lean in towards his kiss, but she didn't notice that, did she?"

"She said you were holding hands and joking around," he mumbled.

"I was just trying to apologize for hitting him. I took his hand in a gesture of forgiveness. Then he joked about me hitting him in the head, that's all," she said in exasperation. "He doesn't hold me responsible for what I did – he admitted he was wrong. That's all that happened."

Johnny sighed and rubbed his eyes. Damn it, he wished he could see. It was so much easier to tell if a person was lying if you could look in their eyes. Lulu sounded sincere enough…

"Well, what about on the Haunted Star? Hanging out with Logan now," he asked, trying not to let his hopefulness show in his voice.

"He may have been released from the hospital, but he's still unsteady and I still feel a little guilty. We decided to give friendship a go – and that's the only way I'm going to let him be in my life. Nothing more. So as a friend, I helped him straighten up his apartment. It was still a mess from it being a crime scene."

Lulu waited while Johnny contemplated her story. After a minute, he still hadn't said anything. Finally she said, "Are you going to say anything?"

" I don't know what to believe," he said with an angry sigh.

"Johnny, I've never lied to you. I have no reason to…" She paused, remembering something. "That's a mistake. I did lie to you. Once."

He turned his head to her questioningly. "On the Overlook back in December," she clarified. "When I told you I wanted Logan. I was lying then."

Johnny turned his head away. Emotions where overcoming him. He didn't know how to react, and wanted so desperately to believe her. But the picture of her and Logan was still so vivid in his mind, so he immediately went on the offensive. "Why are you telling me this now," he choked out. "Are you that desperate to get me to believe you?"

Lulu flinched at the cold words. "Fine," she snapped standing up. Taking out the key, the undid the handcuffs, saying "You know, trust is the most important part of a relationship. And if you can't trust me, then maybe it's better that this never happened." She turned to walk away.

That's when Johnny knew she was telling the truth. Trust was of the utmost importance to Lulu. He wasn't the reason that she and Logan didn't work out – the fact that she couldn't trust Logan anymore was. He cheated on her, pressured her and tried to pin a crime on Johnny. No wonder he could feel the anger radiating off her as she walked away - he pretty much compared her to Logan by not believing her.

She had her hand on the doorknob when she heard him call her name. "What," Lulu said tightly, trying to keep the tears out of her voice.

Johnny got up and carefully made his way towards her. When he reached her, he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. "I wish I could see your face," he said, putting his hands on the top of head and slowly moving them down, caressing every inch of skin on her face, feeling the wetness of her tears. "I made you cry," he said sadly.

"Yes, you did," Lulu replied. "I need to go, Johnny. Did you want something?"

He wrapped her up in a hug, resting his cheek against her hair. "I'm sorry. I trust you. Unconditionally. But just the idea of thinking you would go back to someone who treated you as badly as Logan…" he trailed off. "I was in a vulnerable state, and was easily influenced."

"I would _never_ go back to Logan, Johnny. Hell, I had to go through Claudia to get to you. Who else would be dumb enough to do that?"

He smiled. "That's a good point. Now why on earth would you do something as stupid as cross her?"

"Because I love you, you idiot," she cried out. "I'd go through a hundred Claudia's if it only meant you would trust and believe me!"

Johnny cupped her face in his hands. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. And I'm sorry Claudia took it upon herself to handle the situation. Just hearing about you and Logan on top of my eyes… I was willing to believe the worst at that point."

"I told you I was going to help you through everything. Next time, trust me and listen to me. Don't believe the first thing you hear."

"I promise," he replied, kissing her forehead. "And Lulu?"

"Yes?"

"I love you, too."

She smiled as he leaned down to kiss her. It was soft and sweet, full of trust and devotion. They stood there in each other's arms, relishing the feeling of new love and the comfort. When they broke apart, Johnny once again laid his head against Lulu's hair. "Just answer me one thing, Lu," he asked.

"Anything."

"Where were you hiding the keys to the handcuffs?"

"In my bra."

Johnny gave a strange sound – a mix of a laugh and groan. "Now if I had known that, all of this probably could have been avoided."

"How's that," she replied with a laugh.

"It was bad enough trying to control myself when I was feeling around your back pockets. If I had thought to look there, I would have been a goner. All coherent thought would have been lost."

"I'll let you in on a secret," she said, leaning forward to whisper in his ear. "I was hoping you would find it." She put the key back in it's hiding spot and reached around to slap the handcuff back on each of their wrists. "Want to try again?"


	7. Epilogue: A Few Weeks Later

_A/N: That's all, folks! I thank you all for reading and leaving me all the wonderful comments. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I'm going to work on finishing "Coming Home" next, and then "Where Do We Go From Here?"_

**Epilogue: A Few Weeks Later…**

It had been almost a month since the explosion and Johnny's blindness. He was beginning to lose hope of ever regaining his sight, but with Lulu by his side keeping his spirits up, he didn't care. Because of his blindness, he was effectively out of the business. And these weeks that he didn't have to worry about any mobular activities were the best of his life – blind or not. Even if his sight came back, he didn't want any part back in. Sonny had stopped by about a week ago to discuss a truce and he and Claudia readily agreed. Claudia even discussed buying a share into his coffee business and Sonny approved of the deal. So not only was there a truce firmly in place, the two families were now partners.

Lulu could easily say she was pretty damn happy with the way things were going, too. She divided time between Johnny and work now, since school was out for the summer. Logan was doing his best to be a good friend – he even stopped by to see how Johnny was faring. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, but even Johnny admitted that it was big of him to see the guy that sort of stole your girlfriend.

To top things off, even Lulu and Claudia were getting along. She had long apologized for overstepping her boundaries with the Logan situation. After Lulu and Johnny and worked things out, Claudia could see how happy he was with her. So she made an effort to work things out with her, too. The thing that that wound up bonding the two women, though, was their mutual dislike of Kate Howard. Carly had gotten Lulu an assistant's job over at Crimson and Kate was just a BITCH. Claudia thoroughly agreed, citing that the woman wouldn't know fashion if it fell out of the sky and landed on her face. After one extremely frustrating day of dealing with her and Maxie, she and Claudia came up with a plan.

_Lulu slammed the front door as she entered the Zacchara mansion. _

"_Ahh," Claudia said as she saw Lulu storm through the hallway, "another day of pleasure working for the stick?"_

"_I can't take it anymore! Everywhere I turn, Maxie is trying to make me look bad and Kate is sniping at me for something I did wrong. I can't do it."_

"_It's only until you finish college, blondie. Just a stepping stone."_

"_Yeah, but I'm barely a sophomore. I still have like 2 ½ years left. I'll wind up killing one of them if have to work there that long!."_

_Claudia smirked. "That can be arranged."_

_Lulu sighed and flopped down on the couch in the office. "Thanks. Appreciate the offer." She took the nearest pillow and shoved her face into it, screaming. _

"_Feel better?"_

"_Yeah. But I still don't know what I'm gonna do."_

_Claudia thought for a moment. Then, her face lit up with extreme pleasure._

"_I don't know if I like that look," Lulu commented wryly._

"_How about we beat them at their own game?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Well, first we need to get you some stylish clothes – not that crap the stick thinks is stylish. Real clothes."_

"_With what money," Lulu snorted._

_Claudia waved her hand to dismiss the question. "And then," she continued, "I have a few favors I can call in."_

"_Favors?"_

_She smiled. "Kate and Maxie are going __**down**__." _

That was two weeks ago. Claudia had bought Lulu the most amazing clothes from Prada, Gucci, and Marc Jacobs – just to name a few. She also accessorized, with jewelry from Tiffany's, shoes from Jimmy Choo, and bags from Coach and Dooney and Bourke. When she saw the total of the bill, Lulu almost passed out. It cost more than a small house. She tried not to accept anything, but Claudia insisted. _"It's the least I could do for almost messing up you and Johnny."_

At first, Kate and Maxie rolled their eyes at Lulu's attempt to be fashion forward. Then the calls started coming in, looking for that "marvelous girl" Lulu Spencer. Donatella Versace, Vera Wang, Betsey Johnson, Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani all called wanting to speak to her and ask her advice. That, along with her business savvy got all of them to advertise in future issues of Crimson. That got Lulu promoted from 2nd assistant to Kate Howard's personal advisor. And new best friend.

At the end of that week, Lulu rushed back to the Zacchara mansion and nearly tackled Claudia when she entered. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

She laughed as she tried to get up from where Lulu's flying hug had deposited her. "I guess everything worked out?"

"Yes! Oh. My. God. How do you know all those designers? And how the hell did you get them to call me?"

"I told you," she replied, eyes twinkling, "I called in some favors. Now go," Claudia finished, wiping the dust from her pants. "Johnny's been waiting for you."

Lulu made her way down the hall, but paused and turned to look back at Claudia. "You know, you're not the selfish bitch I thought you were."

Claudia smiled at the girl's attempt at an apology. "Right back at you, blondie. We're good. Just don't break his heart."

"Never," she replied, throwing a wry grin over her shoulder and she departed.

Lulu made her way down to the piano room. She heard Johnny playing something she didn't recognize, but it sounded beautiful just the same. Sliding next to him on the bench, she slipped an arm around his waist and said, "Hey, Billy."

"Billy?" he questioned, turning his head to kiss her cheek.

"You know, Billy. As in Joel? Piano man…. Never mind."

Johnny laughed. "I'm just kidding. I know exactly who you are talking about," he said, switching tunes on the piano and singing softly.

**She comes to me when I'm feelin' down **

**Inspires me without a sound**

**She touches me and I get turned around **

**She's got a way of showin'**

**How I make her feel **

**And I find the strength to keep on goin'**

"That's beautiful," Lulu whispered, knowing that he chose those lyrics for her. "I don't know that one."

"I should play it for you later. It's one of his best."

"To be honest, I don't know that much by him. Just a couple… 'Piano Man' and 'We Didn't Start the Fire' are the two I know best."

Johnny's jaw dropped open in shock. "What? No 'Downeaster Alexa'? 'Vienna'? 'Sometimes a Fantasy'?"

"No, but that last one sounds good," she quipped in reply.

"Looks like you're gonna be listening to a lot of music tonight."

She just smiled and laid her head on his shoulder while he continued to play. If anything, his blindness made his playing even better. It was like the music flowed through him. Lulu would be content to stay this way forever.

* * *

The next morning, Lulu woke up around 8am and couldn't fall back asleep. She got up and walked over to the big bay window in Johnny's room. She opened the curtains to let the sunshine in, and then looked over to Johnny. He was still sleeping peacefully. Her eyes moved up slightly to see one half of the handcuffs still attached to the headboard. Lulu smiled to herself remembering the actions of last night. Johnny should be tired.

If Lulu had thought their first time on the Haunted Star was amazing, she was wrong. Because every time since then has been beyond amazing. It's as if Johnny's blindness heightened the rest of his senses. He would lay his head on her chest and listen to her heartbeat and the way his touch would quicken her pulse. He would glide his hands from head to toe as if to memorize every inch of her body; then he would do the same thing with his mouth. To Lulu, that's what being loved with someone's body and soul felt like. Every single time she and Johnny made love. It was just pure love.

Johnny reached out his arm to Lulu's side of the bed only to find it slowly cooling off.

"Lulu?"

"I'm by the window, Johnny."

"What's the matter," he asked groggily, sitting up and turning towards her voice. "What time is it?"

"It's almost 8:30," she replied. "I couldn't fall back asleep."

"Why don't you come back to bed?"

"In a few minutes. I'm just thinking about some things."

"Like what?"

Lulu smiled to herself. "A lady doesn't tell."

Johnny grinned, too. "Oh, thinking about that."

"Mmmmhmmm."

"Well, you keep thinking. I'm going back to sleep." As he lay back down, he added, "And could you close the curtains? It's too damn early for all that damn sunshine."

"Sure, Johnny."

Lulu turned towards the curtains to pull them shut, and then froze as his words hit her. She whipped around only to see Johnny now sitting upright in bed, back straight as a board.

"Johnny?" she whispered, too scared to hope. "What can you see?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them again. "Well," he said clearing his throat, "instead of a big dark blur, I see a big light blur."

Lulu laughed and ran over to him. "Only you would quote 'Star Wars' at a time like this!"

He took a shaky breath. "I still can't really see anything. Just light and blobs."

"It's okay," she said, taking his face in her hands. "It's a start. And you can only get better from here." She planted a big kiss on his lips. "Now let's get Claudia, call Dr. Drake and get you to General Hospital for more tests!"

Johnny laughed as he heard her bellow "Claudia!" down the hallway. Lulu was way more excited about him regaining sight than he was. It was adorable.

"Hey, Lulu?"

"What," she asked, out of breath from yelling and rushing around.

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Johnny."

Fin


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